By Anousha Sakoui, Echo Wang and Kane Wu
LONDON/NEW YORK/HONG KONG, July 1 (Reuters) - A surge in $10-billion-plus "mega-deals" drove global M&A to record levels in the first half of 2026, LSEG data shows, as some companies took advantage of an easier regulatory backdrop to pursue what advisers said are their dream deals.
The total value of announced deals hit $2.8 trillion in the first six months, up 48% year-on-year and the highest year-to-date total since LSEG records began in 1980. Yet the number
announced fell 9% to 24,000 so far in 2026, a six-year low.
Blockbuster deals dominated, with 47 of above $10 billion totalling more than $1.3 trillion and accounting for nearly 50% of global volumes, an all-time record, LSEG data showed, making it the strongest first half on record for such mega-deals, which included NextEra Energy's $66.8 billion Dominion Energy merger and SpaceX's roughly $60 billion Cursor purchase.
"Corporates have shown tremendous resilience in the face of geopolitical, monetary, macroeconomic, and even microeconomic volatility," said Jay Hofmann, JPMorgan's North America co-head of mergers and acquisitions.
Financing "is available in size," he said, allowing companies to pursue assets needed "to navigate change and put themselves in the best position for the future".
Ivan Farman, co-head of Global M&A at Bank of America, said strong momentum at the high end and lesser momentum at the lower end "reflects a growing view that a $1 billion to $3 billion deal takes just as much time as a larger one, so when an opportunity for a big transaction arises, companies see this as the moment to act."
Investors are placing a premium on scale and focus for companies, bankers said.
"Bigger companies that have bigger moats and a bigger competitive advantage are trading at much better multiples than smaller companies," said Farman. "Long‑held aspirational or dream deals are now being actively rallied around, with CEOs and management teams pushing them forward to their boards."
Indeed some dealmakers are so bullish, in spite of the geopolitical turmoil, that they see activity as poised to potentially eclipse the post-pandemic M&A peak of 2021, with companies taking advantage of fewer regulatory hurdles.
European policymakers have proposed overhauling rules to allow for the creation of local champions and bankers say the Trump administration seems receptive to big U.S. combinations.
In Asia, cash-rich Japanese corporates are expected to do more deals, prompted by proposed revisions to Japan's governance code that stress the need for efficient use of cash.
"Momentum has actually started to accelerate behind the scenes over the last six weeks with a growing pipeline of cross-border, strategic deals," said Jan Weber, head of mergers and acquisitions, Europe, Middle East and Africa, for Morgan Stanley.
"It feels like a lot of the indicators are on green for more M&A and boards feel that they need to act. I do think we are working towards the next peak," Weber added.
Ed Wittig, co-head of Asia Pacific mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs, said companies are focused on growth.
"There's strong enthusiasm around synergies, and markets are rewarding those that execute well," he added.
Bankers also reported a record amount of corporate separation activity driving dealmaking as companies sought to adapt to shifting industry dynamics, such as Comcast’s planned spinoff of NBCUniversal, Honeywell's three-way split and the sale of Unilever Foods to McCormick & Co.
"The market is struggling more than ever to embrace businesses that are inordinately diversified," said Akeel Sachak, global head of consumer at Rothschild & Co. "There was an era where diversity was applauded as a way of mitigating risk, but nowadays investors are more cautious because it creates undue complexity and a lack of focus from management."
TECHNOLOGY DOMINATES
Financing for acquisitions was plentiful in the first half, with global investment-grade corporate debt issues totalling $3.4 trillion, a 10% increase year-on-year and the highest year-to-date total since LSEG records began.
Technology remained the largest sector for dealmaking globally, with $649 billion of announced transactions in the first half, LSEG data showed.
"AI or AI adjacent industries are one half of the equation, particularly in the U.S. The other half is the HALO side, heavy assets, low obsolescence, big infrastructure and big industry that will continue no matter what impact AI has," said Sam Newhouse, global vice chair of Latham & Watkins' M&A and Private Equity Practice.
Cross-border M&A reached $893 billion in the first half of 2026, up 62% from a year ago and the best annual start since 2018. The U.S. was the most targeted, accounting for 25% of cross-border transactions, followed closely by Britain.
"There are a lot more UK corporates looking outward as well rather than just the UK being taken out," said Kirshlen Moodley, head of UK M&A for BNP Paribas.
(Reporting by Anousha Sakoui in London, Echo Wang in New York and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Editing by Alexander Smith)
